We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Baldarelli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I have always been very creative and have preferred to make something myself before buying it, or at least trying to! When I had my first son in 2018, I struggled with some Postpartum and really felt like I lost myself in the process of new motherhood. When I had my second son during Covid in 2020, I knew I had to do something for myself to get “me” back and I had a dream one night while on maternity leave that I had started a business named Hope in Handfuls selling decorative home decor items. I woke up and googled the name to see if it existed and it didn’t and I told my husband that I was going to start a business. Being the amazing partner he is, he was a little confused but also very supportive and said “how do we start?!” Hope has always been a special word to me as I feel like you can’t do much without having it and people have always said to me that I have my hands full with my very busy lifestyle. It was as if my sub-conscience knew I needed it and that is how it all began!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Being creative has always been an outlet for me and something that has filled my cup. When I was younger, I loved crafts and making things by hand and even tried to sell handmade wooden signs at the end of my street with motivational words on them as if I was selling lemonade to the neighborhood! I grew up with parents who went above and beyond for myself and my three sisters and did an amazing job celebrating both the big and the small things in our lives. That combination instilled a love for celebrating anything and everything and handmade decor to go along with it. I was class president in both middle school and high school and organizing and decorating for school dances and events was my favorite part. In college I was an executive on my campus activities board where I was able to lead all of the major events on campus, along with making & designing all the decor for them. I also worked as an intern at a wedding venue and fell in love with the industry. Upon graduating, I started my professional career in Human Resources where I worked for 8 years but once having my kids the itch to do something for myself was one I couldn’t ignore. Starting with smaller, decorative home decor pieces in 2021, my business was born and has evolved to designing and creating day of custom signage and signature pieces for luxury weddings in New England. I do my best to let my personal creative style shine while taking my couples vision and bring it to life.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think the wedding industry from a vendor perspective is such a beautiful space as it allows us creatives to assist our couples with making their dreams come true all while using our talents and passions in the process. Your wedding is such a important event in your life and being able to be a part of that, whether big or small is so special to me. That said, the one thing I try to never lose sight of is staying true to myself, which can be really difficult when seeing others maybe doing things differently than you and questioning if your way is working or right. I naturally am a very outgoing, bubbly and goofy person and I try to show that side of myself through my online presence, social media, calls with couples and in person with my business. I do also lead a very busy life with three little boys and balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship can be really, really hard. Finding the balance within motherhood and entrepreneurship is one I am still trying to figure out but I think being honest about that, even in the wedding world, is important. We are real people with lots and lots going on behind the scenes and sometimes that is just as important as the work we are putting out there for the world to see. Showing that side of it may not be intriguing to everyone but I do feel it allows me to stay true to myself and show the sides that may not be as glamourous. The countless late nights, repeatedly feeling pulled in a various directions, the struggle sometimes to remain focused and self motivated or second guessing decisions, add up. Continuing to move forward, try again tomorrow and being proud of where I came from help me to keep going and knowing that at the heart of it all, I am able to do what I love and it’s pretty amazing if you ask me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Last year, in 2023 I had my third son and unfortunately was very sick while I was pregnant. Being a mom already to two young children and owning my business was really difficult to manage each day due to my complicated pregnancy. I felt like all of the work I had put into building my business the two years prior came crashing down as I was not able to physically do what I needed to. My husband and family truly kept my business a float and helped me in so many ways and once the baby came and things began to improve, I knew 2024 had to be my come back. This year has been my most successful year yet and I am really proud of the work, determination and resilience I have put in to have rebuilt my brand. With just over 50 weddings and events this year under my belt, I am excited to see what next year has in store!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hopeinhandfuls.com- I am in the middle of redoing it though and it goes live Jan 1
• Instagram: hopeinhandfuls
• Facebook: Hope in Handfuls

Image Credits

Tamara Hanley
In Our Image Photography
Nicole Marcelle Photography